ore

all the memories, all the pain, but this time, it felt like a door closing, not trapping me, but setting me f

rful chatter washed over me. My colleagues toasted my success, their smiles genuine, their pr

quiet. As I washed my hands, my phone buzzed with an Ins

asually around Brittney. She was leaning into him, her head resting on his shoulder, a soft,

the one who truly understands me. Some peopl

e been weeks ago. Now, it was a dull ache, a confirmation of what I already knew. They looked so natural t

ted, "Couldn't agree more,

sed to preach about sharing. "Elinore," he'd say, his eyes earnest, "sharing our lives, our dreams, our smallest joys

d reveled in it, believing that this open, boundless sharing was a sign of a love that would last forever. I' d share a jok

frustrations were "overdramatic." My triumphs were "lucky" or "not a big deal." And his life? His life became an open book only to Brittney. His bad

eague, Sarah, called from outside the

rusive image of Carter and Brittney away. I wasn't g

ir excited cluster. Laughter erupted as the flash went off. I saw the photo pop up on social media minutes later, tagged in it

back, shirtless, as he put on a shirt. Then, it zoomed in on her hand, resting possessively on his bare lower back before quickly pulling away.

been doing this for months, subtly at first, then more overtly. Pictures of her cooking in my kitchen, leaving behind he

helpless victim, the one who needed saving. He never saw her as the calculating puppet master s

"Elinore, about your stuff. When are you com

t. Brittney wants to get settled. Not we, not I. It was

' d bought on our first trip together, sitting on my kitchen counter. Brittney's hand, adorned with a delicate rin

smiles. And now, her hand, her ring, desecrating it. A wave of possessive anger, hot and sharp, washed over m

e, you really should come get your things. Brittney's

liberate provocation. She was baiting me. And

open it. I knew, with a dreadful certainty, that whatever was in that video would be worse than anything she h